Wiring device



March 30, 1937. c, RUTHERFORD 2,075,547

I WIRING DEVICE Filed May 25, 1935 EEEHHEW INVENTOR arvl'ifi/zienfard /MM W 4 M ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 30, 1937 PATENT OFFICE WIRING DEVICECharles E. Rutherford, West Hartford, Conn., as-

signor to The Wiremold Company, Hartford,

Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application May 23, 1935, Serial No.22,960

2 Claims.

My invention relates to wiring devices; particularly to means by whichwiring devices may be conveniently and quickly installed, as well asrigidly held in place after installation. It is particularly usefulwhere it is necessary to install a wiring device against the side of awall, molding or other obstruction, but its utility is not limited tosuch cases. The particular character of the wiring device, whetherswitch, junction box, outlet or other, is immaterial.

In the drawing attached hereto Fig. 1 is an exploded view showing thethree main elements of my wiring device;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the under side of the central member;

Fig. 3 shows the underside of the base plate;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the device assembled in place;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a modified form;

Fig. 6 is a view of the base plate of the modified form shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 shows the device of Fig. 5, in plan, at the time of installation.

Fig. 9 is a view of a modified form of base plate.

In Fig. 1, which illustrates my invention as applied to a snap switchsuch as is used in household wiring, III is the porcelain body of theswitch, provided with screws II, II, for attaching wires, with a topplate l2, provided with a rectangular slot l2a, through which theoperating handle I3 protrudes. The porcelain body III is provided on itslower side with a recess |4 (Figs. 2 and 4) in which is mounted themetal strap I5. Screws l6, I6, pass through this strap and engage withthreaded holes 16a, l6a, in the top plate l2.

The ends of the strap piece l5 are bent down and shaped to provideprojecting lugs l6, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The base plate I1, shown in Fig. l, is provided with holes Ila, Ila,|'|a, by which it may be screwed in place, as for example on a wall, andwith lugs l8, one of which is shown at H! as having been broken or cutofi. It also is provided with slots 20, which are shown as being cut ina portion of the base plate I! which is bent up above its general level.

The device shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 is one which is so shaped as toallow a central screw 2| to be used to hold the parts together; theparticular device shown is a double receptacle, each side capable ofholding and connecting to the electrical current one attaching plug, asis well known in the art. The central screw 2| engages with a threadedopening in a boss 22, which is located in the base plate.

In this form, in place of the bent lugs l6 of the first form I useheaded studs, 23, 23, which are molded into the main body ll) of thereceptacle. Between these studs and the main body of the receptacle Iprovide an insulating plate 24, which is kept in place by the studs,being provided with holes through which the studs pass. The length ofthe studs is such as not only to allow room for 10 the plate 24, butalso to allow room for the studs to pass into the slots 20, 20, of thebase plate, as

shown in Fig. 5.

The construction of the molded body and its relation to the plate 24 andthe studs 23 appear in Fig. 7.

In Fig. 9 I show an alternative form of base plate, in which the holesa, 20a, are modified with special reference to securely holding the bentup lugs N5 of Fig. 2.

In each form the cover member 21 is provided with knock-out openings 25;in the upper part of Fig. 1 one of these openings, 25a, is shown at eachend as knocked out.

To install the device it is necessary first to at- 25 tach the baseplate II in its permanent location, as by screws passing through theholes Ho. The wires 26, 26, Figs. 4 and 8, are then connected to thescrews H, and the member ID is temporarily installed in place byslipping the two lugs or studs, I6 or 23 as the case may be, into thetwo holes 20, 20, of the base plate, and rotating the member In througha small arc until the lugs or studs assume the position in the holeswhich is shown in Fig. 3, with the projecting ends of the lugs or studsextending behind the adjacent portions of the base plate. It will appearfrom Fig. 8 that this operation can be performed when the base plate I lis installed so as to touch a side wall, molding or base board 28.

There is enough frictional engagement between the lugs or studs and theholes 20 to retain the member H1 in place until the time comes to applythe cover member 21. The arrangement is such that the cover member, whenapplied, holds all of the parts rigidly in place.

In the first form shown the cover member is held in place by two screws,29, 29, which engage with the threaded holes 30, 30, in the top platel2, Figs. 1 and 4. In the second form the screw 2| passes through a holein the cover member, and engages the stud 22 described above, as shownin Fig. 5.

In both cases the result is to lock the cover plate in a position inwhich the lower walls of 1 in such a way as to hold the cover memberfrom rotating, and lock everything securely together in place, thisaction being aided by the projections 25 from the base plate, where suchprojections are present. Rotation of the main member Ill is prevented bythe engagement of the switch handle I2 with the slot 12a in which itworks, or by some similar engagement of the parts; for example in themodified form shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8, the upper projecting flanges32, 32, of the molded body portion iii of the receptacle engage withopenings in the cover member 2?, as shown in Fig. 5, so that so long asthe cover member is held in place the molded member cannot rotate.

To adapt my invention to. use with any type of conduit, wiring racewayor similar device it is only necessary to give the proper shape to theknock-out openings 25. The particular shape of these knock-out openingsshown in the drawing is suitable for use with the type of conduit knownto the trade as Wiremold, one form of which is shown in Murphy PatentNo. 1,981,742, This form of conduit is particularly adapted to befastened in placeby slipping it on to one of the projecting tongues I8as shown at 3! at the left of the lower part of Fig. 1. Such of thetongues as are not used are removed by breaking or cutting off, in theusual way, as shown. at I9. When the cover is applied in place, theknocked out opening 25a of the cover plate embraces the conduit,affording-an additional means of lockingthe whole structure permanentlyin place, the cover member being'secured against rotation by itsattachment to the conduit members as well as by its engagement with thebase plate or portions struck up therefrom.

I claim:

1. In a wiring device, two members, one of which is a base plate and onea body portion, means for fastening the base plate in its desiredlocation, rigid projecting means on one of the said members adapted toproject behind portions of the other member by a slight movement of thebody portion in part in a direction parallel to said base plate, a covermember and means for fastening the cover member rigidly in place withrelation to the base plate, the cover member being shaped to engage withthe body portion in such a manner as to prevent the body portion frombeing so moved ina direction parallel to said base plate as to bedisengaged from the base member when the cover member is in position.

2. In a wiring device, two members, one of which is a base plate and onea body portion, means for1fastening the base plate in its desiredlocation, rigid projecting means on one of the said members adapted toproject behind portions of the other member by a slight rotationalmovement in a direction parallel to said base plate; a cover member andmeans for fasteningthecover member rigidly in place with relation to thebase plate, the cover member being shaped to engage with the bodyportion in such a manner as to prevent the body portion from being sorotated as to be disengaged fromthe base member when the cover member isin position.

CHARLES E. RUTHERFORD.

